Is Lighter Really Better?

There are numerous countries where women have been using products and creams to make their complexion pallid. One of these nations is Mali, where more than half of women use bleaching products to lighten their skin. These women are so eager and ebullient to use these products because they believe that having a lighter complexion is a part of true beauty. They also believe that lighter skin would embellish their overall appearance, making them seem more salacious and lustful therefore attracting men. Mali women are led to believe all of these things because their society is promoting it. The "elite" and educated people in the country use these harmful skin products, setting an example for lower classes that a part of what makes them of a higher class is that they can afford to look beautiful by using those beauty products. However dermatologists agree that using these products is incredibly harmful for the skin. The bleaching creams are anything but salubrious, because they're unhealthy and promote women to actually burn themselves in order to achieve a lighter complexion. Despite this, a male Malian musician says that Malian men don't exactly find "bleached women" mesmeric and beautiful. He says that "it's better for Malian women to change their minds". I only wish that women in Mali as well as the rest of the world would be able to realize this.
With Christmas time coming around, one of the most jovial times of the year, I hope that women wouldn't hope to receive beauty products as Christmas gifts. During the holiday season, I only wish that women will receive the gift of knowledge, to understand that beauty is not only skin deep.

To learn more about women in Mali bleaching themselves, read this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/718359.stm